Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh | Business Upturn

Punjab Government imposes ‘daily Night Curfew’ and ‘Full Lockdown on weekends’- Check timings

Shreejit Shelar — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 16:55:08 +0000

Amid the unprecedented spike in the Covid-19 cases, the Punjab Government on Monday has ordered a slew of strict restrictions and extended the night curfew by two more hours. It has also ordered the closure of shops by 5 pm.

As per the new directive announced by Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh decreed a daily lockdown will continue from 6 pm to 5 am till further notice.

Meanwhile, a weekend lockdown will be in force from Friday 6 pm to Monday 5 am. Presently, the curfew restrictions remain in place from 8 pm to 5 am daily.

Urging everyone to stay at home and step out only if necessary, Mr Singh added that the government seeks full cooperation from the masses.

“Due to continuous & rapid rise of #Covid19 cases in Punjab, Cabinet today has decided to impose daily lockdown from 6 PM to 5 AM and weekend lockdown from Friday 6 PM to Monday 5 AM. Urge you all to stay at home & step out only if absolutely necessary. Seek your full cooperation”, Punjab CM Capt. Amarinder Singh wrote in a tweet on Monday.

Due to continuous & rapid rise of #Covid19 cases in Punjab, Cabinet today has decided to impose daily lockdown from 6 PM to 5 AM and weekend lockdown from Friday 6 PM to Monday 5 AM. Urge you all to stay at home & step out only if absolutely necessary. Seek your full cooperation. pic.twitter.com/gS4TFlw5lZ

— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) April 26, 2021

Furthermore, Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar said, all shops will remain open till 5 pm, news agency PTI reported.

In retrospect, 76 more people died from coronavirus in Punjab as the state reported another record single-day spike of 7,014 cases on Sunday. The state has taken its infection tally to 3,39,090 and saw 6,762 cases on April 23.

With 76 more fatalities in the past 24-hours, the death toll in the state reached 8,432, according to a medical bulletin issued on Sunday, reported the LiveMint.

The Chief Minister has reportedly directed the Health Department to follow up with the Centre for vaccine supplies as the state presently had only 1.76 lakh Covishield and 22,000 Covaxin doses in stock.

Health Secretary Hussan Lal disclosed that in response to directives from the Chief Minister, 2,000 beds would be added to strengthen the L2 and L3 bed capacity in government and private hospitals.

COVID-19 situation in Punjab is expected to worsen: CM Amarinder expresses concern

Shreejit Shelar — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 16:26:03 +0000

Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh on Monday reflected upon Punjab current COVID-19 situation and said that he is against the imposition of a coronavirus lockdown even as he predicted that the pandemic situation is expected to get worse in the state.

Mr Singh made the recent comment at a meeting in Chandigarh, a day after Punjab crossed the 7,000-mark and recorded the highest single-day rise since the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus pandemic last year.

He also hypothesized that the situation is expected to worsen, especially in south Punjab, where Ludhiana district alone reported 1,300-plus cases on Sunday, reported NDTV.

In a meeting on Monday, Punjab CM said, while stringent measures are being taken to tackle the surge in cases, he is not “proposing” a lockdown in the state as it leads to economic problems and the exodus of migrant workers.

Most of the states in India decreed a slew of more stringent laws ahead of the rising Covid-19 cases forcing numerous businesses to observe a complete shutdown.

Earlier this month, Hundreds of migrant workers in Delhi and Mumbai on Thursday flocked railway and bus stations to return to their villages, as a record surge in coronavirus cases sparked fears of another lockdown in India.

Punjab CM Capt. Amarinder Singh said at another meeting that the state government is making all efforts to secure medical oxygen to supplement its depleting stocks.

According to the recent NDTV report, the state is only getting 85 tonnes of the 105 tonnes of medical oxygen quota as the rest is being diverted to the PGIMER, Chandigarh, he said.

Mr Singh has also directed the Health Department to follow up with the Centre for vaccine supplies as the state presently has only 1.76 lakh Covishield and 22,000 COVAXIN doses left.

Amid the depleting oxygen supplies, Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh on Sunday sent another SOS to the Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, for the second time in two days, for an urgent increase in allocation of quota.

Earlier this month, the rural medical officers in Punjab threatened to boycott the Covid-19 duties if their demand for Dynamic Assured Career Progression (DACP) of cadre is not fulfilled. Demanding Pay revision and DACP of a cadre, Dr Jagjit Singh, state president, Association of Rural Medical Officers, threatened to go on strike if the demands are not met and – boycotting COVID duties from April 25.

Reacting to the threats made by the healthcare workers, Punjab CM said such actions will be met with dismissal “as we cannot tolerate this kind of nonsense in a war-like situation”.

Meanwhile, Lt Gen RP Singh, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Command, in a virtual meeting with the CM has offered to help the staff run a 100-bed COVID facility. In the meeting, it was proposed that a makeshift hospital can be set up at the building loaned to the state government by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research for the treatment of Covid-19 patients.

The recent NDTV report quoted Lt Gen RP Singh as he mentioned that 15-trained nurses have already been dispatched to Patiala to support the civic staff.

Furthermore, Army officials said that they will extend all possible help to Punjab to tackle the situation.

Mr Singh mentioned that the state government also aims at approaching the Union Home Ministry to provide manpower and ICU beds through the Border Security Force (BSF).

In a meeting hosted by the CM, Health Secretary Hussan Lal informed that 2,000 beds will be added at government and private hospitals. While 900 beds will be added at government medical colleges in Patiala, Amritsar and Faridkot, 542 will be added at private colleges, he said, reported NDTV.

Punjab CM seeks urgent increase in oxygen supply; sends another SOS to Centre!

Shreejit Shelar — Sun, 25 Apr 2021 16:39:15 +0000

Amid the depleting oxygen supplies, Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh on Sunday sent another SOS to the Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan, for the second time in two days, for an urgent increase in allocation of quota.

“With Oxygen supplies in the state depleting fast, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday sent another SOS letter to Union Health & Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, for the second time in two days, for an urgent increase in allocation of quota”, reported the news agency ANI.

With Oxygen supplies in the state depleting fast, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday sent another SOS letter to Union Health & Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, for the second time in two days, for an urgent increase in allocation of quota: Punjab CMO pic.twitter.com/6ZrctIICHc

— ANI (@ANI) April 25, 2021

In the letter, Singh directed Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan to pursue with the government of India for urgent supplies – as the demand for oxygen increases successively – triggered by the amplifying patient load due to influx from Delhi and other states.

Requesting the Chief Secretary to rush urgent supplies to Amritsar – where many lives were lost on Saturday due to shortage of oxygen in a private hospital.

The recent reports suggest that the Chief Minister has sought four-hourly reports from Principal Secretary Industries on the state’s hospital-wise demand-supply situation of Oxygen.

Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh on Saturday, wrote to the Union Health Minister requesting for an increase in Punjab’s liquid oxygen quota to 250 MT daily due to the unprecedented spike in the Covid-19 cases and sought his urgent personal intervention.

Punjab isn’t the only state that has been facing the brunt of a shortage in oxygen supply. Maharashtra followed by the Delhi Chief Minister sent out letters to the centre highlighting the lack of medical supplies in the respective states amid the surging Covid-19 cases.

While the entire country is reeling under the fury of coronavirus, the nation’s crippling healthcare infrastructure nation has flagged concerns amongst the masses.

Punjab’s daily allocation of medical oxygen from the Centra pool is 105 MT. This excludes the production of the local ASUs which generate around 60 MT of liquid oxygen within Punjab and meet the requirements of various re-fillers, bottling plants and distributors.

While the daily consumption and requirement as per the present caseload for Covid-19 patients for Punjab is around 200 MT as of April 25. Around 50 MT for non-Covid patients (emergency and other essential requirements that cannot be stopped).

This makes the total daily requirement and consumption for Punjab healthcare services of 250 MT of liquid medical oxygen.

Punjab’s requirement is expected to rise around 250-300 MT in the next two weeks as per the projections of the caseload. The state’s capacity for storage of medical oxygen for all healthcare facilities, including both government and private facilities in Punjab, is around 370 MT.